Wild Burro!

Early prospectors relied heavily on burros as they trekked long distances across the deserts in search of gold and silver. Many of these burros survived, even though their owners perished under the harsh desert conditions. Many more burros escaped or were released during the settlement of the West. Because of their hardiness, Wild burros have thrived throughout the North American deserts, and their numbers have increased to perhaps 20,000.

Wild Burros like the natural path that is Highway 95 around Lake Havasu, Arizona.  It was quite unexpected as we rounded the curve to have these two burros walking down the road. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park system manages the burro population. Click the link to learn more about these awesome little guys.  

Wow, that crack in the windshield has gotten much worse. 

There is a legend connected to the burro:

Donkey's Cross - tells us that the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed Him to Calvary. Appalled by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but could not leave. It is said that the shadow of the cross fell upon the shoulders and back of the donkey.

Quilting? Me? Not!

In  November 2018 we sang in Vancouver, Washington at St. Johns.  It was Quilt Sunday and these photos do not come close to capturing the warmth and beauty.  At one point in the service, everyone touched the quilt nearest them and prayed that it would bring warmth and joy to whoever would receive it.  Some quilts went to Lutheran World Relief, some to homeless shelters, and some to other smaller missions of the church.  
I have friends who are quilters and I find their gifts inspiring!  It is with a joyful heart they have shared quilts with me, and as the recipient of such a gift, I know a little of the joy a quilt can bring.
Lord Bless the hands who labored over these wonderful scraps of fabric to bring about such beauty and blessing to others.  

We have visited many churches with an active group of women who intentionally use their gifts to bring joy to others. Thank you from those of us who can't or do not quilt.

Only in Wisconsin

I am not going to lie, it was really fun.  Following the outdoor service at church, there was a potluck and Bloody Mary bar!  So, here I am saluting my hubby as he laughs at me and sings.  I think Thrivent has nailed the "live generously," slogan at this event. 

Yes, you could also have a beer with condiments. Not everyone feels comfortable with any kind of alcohol at church, save for communion. I find that I did not have a problem and I LOVED sharing the experience with others just to gauge their reaction. :) Ahhh Lutherans.

Well done ladies.

The condiment table for dressing your bloody mary.  

Roswell, New Mexico

We camped at Bottomless Lake State Park, just outside of Roswell, New Mexico, for a week. The bridge making the trip to town about 6 miles had washed out in heavy rains the week before; the trip to town was 36 miles, needless to say, we stocked up and did not make the trip as often as we would have liked.  

This little alien showed up at the lakeshore, I am counting it - alien.

All over town the signage when gracefully possible (or not) had an alien motif. Please note the lamp post. :)

Driving around the park we spotted an alien, but upon closer inspection, it was a dead bug on the windshield. :( 

Helen Horn

Yesterday, early in the morning, my grandma was freed from her earthly body - no more suffering. She had Alzheimer’s and was trapped in her body for years. I will always remember her as a kind, loving, God fearing and best grandma a person could ask for. ~ Juli Lattner

Grandma died on December 10, 2018.  She is the person who taught me how to be a grandma.  She was vibrant and kind. As a daughter-in-law, you hear comments about their difficult or hard mother-in-law, but not in this case.  As Juli said we really lost her to Alzheimer's about 13 years ago.  She left us by inches and it was hard. Thankfully, the Lord gives us memories that happily trigger all the good stuff, and there was a lot of good stuff! Baking, a game of cards, gardening, walking, shopping, playing, sewing for everyone, workday break with a can of Coke, painting, ceramics, church, travel, she was a busy gal.  Grandma loved to crochet, she patiently passed that creative skill along to my daughter who has turned out some pretty fabulous stuff including a blanket she crocheted for her grandma. :)  Grandma allowed me the opportunity to be who I was without "fixing" it.  I have yet to get that one down.  She was not perfect by any means, but she was always ready, willing and present. There are so many people who loved her dearly. 

It has taken nearly a year to get is posted, but she is worth the wait. 

Daughter in law, Jane and her son Benjamin

Some of the grandkids.

Cherries in the Snow a staple of ALL family gatherings. YUM

Nice Legs

The problem started nearly eight months ago. Our NEW HaRVey was not lifting off of the truck and leveling automatically. We had to manually level our self-leveling RV.  This was no big deal we had been doing that for the past 10 years, with old HaRVey, the problem was it should be self-leveling. It is pretty incredible standing by and watching your house level itself. 

We had a mobile RV Repairman come out to our spot in Texas; he was stumped.  Three weeks later we found Countryman Repair, in Foley, Arkansas,  and hauled our house in for repair work in hopes of getting to the bottom of our legs.  As the legs were being lowered/raised, the left front leg FELL OFF!!! I can't even imagine what we would have done. I guess we were at the bottom of the problem.

A leg was ordered and we had to wait 10 days as Indiana was closed due to snow in late January. 

Happy HaRVey :)

Thanks be to God, we were able to stay with friends in Milton, Florida who don't mind open-ended stays!! Truly good friends. It was great catching up and hanging out with Bob and Cyndi.

Our first attempt

One guy working, three watching

Nice Leg. 

I have waited on writing this post as I wanted to say, "our legs look great and watching your house self-level really is pretty cool." 

I began this post months ago and now I can finish by saying everything has worked for many moves - thanks be to God.  
  

Skin in the Game

Let me begin by saying I am truly a middle-aged woman and one of my favorite beach pastimes might be people watching. This year I found myself thinking, "that seems very uncomfortable," or "she MUST be cold." And speaking of the bare minimum, I guess you are never too old for education and in the end, I did get an eye full. In some cases, sadly, you cannot un-see that!

I loved the sound of the waves, the children laughing and running into the water, but a few of the sights weren't really worth seeing, and it was hard to ignore all the bottoms up moving down the beach. 

I loved the temperature inversion going on in this picture...